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I. Introduction

This article describes the process of resettlement in New Zealand of refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
Refugee experiences are described and focus on the physical, cultural and emotional stresses encountered from the time of deciding to leave their home country to the final stage of resettlement in New Zealand. The political, social and cultural issues during resettlement are discussed and focus on the areas of adaptation and acculturation.

Indochina and Indochinese

The name Indochina was applied to Cambodia ( Kampuchea ), Laos, and Vietnam during French colonial rule of these countries between 1883 and 1954. After the Geneva Conference in 1954, these three countries gained their independence. Since then the name Indochina no longer has any political or constitutional meaning. People from Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam reject the term Indochinese because of its colonial connotations and its denial of their separate unique identities. In fact there never has been an Indochinese culture or people. The people have always been the Khmer ( or Cambodian ) from Cambodia, the Lao ( not Laotian! ) from Laos and the Viet ( or Vietnamese ) from Vietnam. Refugees have identified themselves as Khmer refugees from Cambodia, Lao refugees from Laos and Vietnamese refugees from Vietnam.
 

II. Background of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese Refugees

Causes of the exodus

The collapse, on 17 April 1975, of a US backed Cambodian government to the Communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot, the collapse of the South Vietnamese government to the Provisional Revolutionary Government ( Vietcong ) and the North Vietnamese forces on 30 April 1975 and the collapse of the Royal Lao Government after the abdication of the King to the Pathet Lao on 2 December 1975 led to the refugee crisis in Southeast Asia.

A mass exodus of refugees took place. Vietnamese first fled their country in 1975 just after the fall of Saigon. The social and economic poverty caused by long war and the increasingly harsh practices of the new communist government led to streams of Vietnamese refugees journeying in boats across the South China sea to Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, The Philippines, Hong Kong and Korea. They became known as The boat people.

Fearing retribution from the new communist regime which enforced strict political control, Lao and Hmong crossed the Mekong river in the same year to seek a safe haven in Thailand.

A small group of Khmer people fled their country in 1975. A mass exodus followed in late 1979. This spill over was due to the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in January 1979 and to the fear engendered by the Khmer socialist government backed by Vietnam. Two hundred thousand Khmer refugees walked across the Khmer-Thai border to seek refuge in Thailand.

All of these people had no choice but to quit their homeland. They left behind their families and their belongings for one reason only: to save their lives from the oppressive communist governments. They feared persecution and the threat of death from these governments. During their flight they faced uncertainty, fear, exploitation, near-starvation, health risks and not infrequently, gun-fire attacks, buried mines, robbery, piracy, rape and killings.

Pre-arrival in New Zealand and decisions to come to New Zealand
Cambodian, Lao, and Vietnamese refugees had been through horrendous, traumatic experiences in their country of origin and during their escape journey. They were kept in closed camps in countries of first asylum - Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and The Philippines. They awaited United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees ( UNHCR ) classification as displaced persons or refugees. Official refugee status would grant them eligibility to apply for permanent resettlement in another country such as the United States of America ( USA ), England, France, Canada, Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Survival in the first country of asylum meant rapid adaptation to, and acceptance of, the rigours of life in a refugee camp. Some Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees experienced more than ten years of poor accommodation and food. Children were brought up with inadequate care, disrupted education and limited exposure to their culture. Refugees freedom was limited by rules set by camp authorities. Refugees in Khao I Dang, Thailand for example, were forbidden to learn English. Restrictions such as this meant that refugees had minimal opportunity to prepare for life in an English speaking country. Refugees had little contact with the outside world apart from letters sent or received. Reassuring letters received from relatives overseas often painted a rosy but non realistic picture of the new country and way of life. This led to misconceptions about the real situation of resettled relatives and acquaintances.
Refugees making the decision to come to New Zealand were mainly influenced by information received from close relatives and friends, the urgency of the situations encountered after their flight, and the atrocious living conditions in refugee camps. Refugees had vague ideas about New Zealand as being a place near Australia having a small population, many sheep and cold weather.

III. New Zealand Response

New Zealand has assisted in the international effort to resettle refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. But from the beginning, the government of New Zealand was reluctant to open its door to Asian refugees. Its attitude to refugees prior to 1975 was that they should meet immigration criteria, should be of practical use to society and have the ability to be assimilated into the community.

After the fall of Saigon in April 1975, the government of New Zealand needed to review the political implications of returning the staff of the Wellington based Vietnamese Embassy. The situation of Vietnamese and Cambodian Colombo Plan students also needed resolving. The current attitude toward the students was that they should return home to help the development of their countries. In 1976 the Government decided to grant asylum to both groups.
New Zealand reluctance to accept refugees from Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos was partly due to the Government of New Zealand and partly due to people working in the Inter-church Commission on Immigration and Refugee Resettlement ( ICCI ) who were hesitant to take action, because the personal opinion of the director of ICCI was that Indochinese should not be removed from the Southeast Asian region.¹

In May 1977, the UNHCR appealed to New Zealand to take some boat people. The government agreed on the condition that they held UN status as refugees and had an occupational qualification useful to New Zealand.²

After almost two years of cautious deliberation New Zealand made a historic decision by agreeing to assist in the resettlement of refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam, particularly the boat refugees in Malaysian and Thai camps.³
In July 1977, the Cabinet approved the entrance of up to 70 Indo-Asian families... provided that: i. they hold UNHCR refugee status
ii. they have generally not more than 4 dependent children under the age of 18.
Grandparents or other immediate relatives may be included in a family if there are good humanitarian grounds.
iii. ideally those accepted be literate, have an occupational background adaptable to New Zealand and that the breadwinner be generally no more than 45 years of age.⁴

By 1978, 535 refugees were granted resettlement in New Zealand. In spite of the mass exodus of refugees, the government in early January 1979 was still very cautious about who was to be admitted from the many thousands of refugees in Southeast Asia. The government declined to take more, preferring to wait and see how well these refugees settled. Reacting to the delay of the Government, two brothers, experienced television journalists Bill and Hugo Manson, wrote to all 230 local authorities in the country to suggest that New Zealand be willing to accept 3 200 refugees - a ratio of one refugee to one thousand New Zealanders. Hugo Manson said The government is being cautious to the point of cruelty.

One year later, by the time of the 1979 Geneva Conference, the government declared that it was willing to accept 3235 refugees ( one for every 927 New Zealanders ) over a two year period. Officials defended government policy by arguing that the quality of sponsorship had to be taken into consideration, not just the quantity. Furthermore, its selection policies were more humanitarian, and a cautious approach would create the necessary favourable public climate.

From 1979, New Zealand whole refugee programme was put on to a new and more permanent footing. In July 1979, it was decided that New Zealand would accept another 1800 Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees for resettlement between 1 January 1980 and June 1981. In November 1979 the Government announced its decision to speed up the 1980/81 intake so that the refugees arrived by December 1980. In November 1980 it was announced that 1000 refugees with family connections in New Zealand would be resettled between 1 January 1981 and 30 June 1982.⁴
In an effort to understand the public reactions to accepting refugees, New Zealand Herald National Research bureau conducted a public opinion poll throughout New Zealand in 1980 and found from 2200 people that 27% of them supported bringing in more refugees in for resettlement, 31% believed the numbers should be the same, 13% would like to take fewer refugees, 21% did not want refugees at all, and the rest did not know. Based on this result, the attitude of people working in resettlement was low key to avoid disturbing the 34% who were not in favour of refugees. Community organisers spoke of how they almost smuggled the refugees into the community. This quiet, almost covert policy, where the sponsors were found by word of mouth, was endorsed by the Department of Labour.⁵

The format of cabinet decisions for each subsequent year to 1986 used the same criteria as in 1977 but with the number of 600 Indo-Asian refugees from Malaysia and Thailand and up to 100 refugees in emergency situations. New Zealand approach to selection is simple; health has never been a criterion for selection. It has a reputation for a humanitarian flexible policy.
The Cabinet authorised
- the Department of Labour
i. to meet the payment of fares and other costs associated with the exercise.
ii. to pay at the standard rates, volunteer interpreters who assist during the reception and orientation period.
iii. to arrange and pay for information material to be made available for both refugees and sponsors.
- the Department of Education in conjunction with the Department of Labour to arrange full time orientation courses for refugees.
- the Department of Social Welfare to grant emergency unemployment benefit for up to six weeks to all families.
- the Department of Health in consultation with the Department of Labour to arrange for full medical, X-ray, and dental examination of all refugees on arrival, a full immunisation programme, and any subsequent medical and dental treatment required.⁶

In October 1986, when the Royal Thai Government announced the decision to close the Khmer refugee camp in Khao I Dang on 31 December 1986, and transfer the inhabitants to the Thai Khmer border camps, the New Zealand Government arranged a special programme which would permit up to 200 refugees to come to New Zealand. This group would be selected from the 400 who had relatives in New Zealand. Under this programme, the Government would contribute 46% toward the costs, the UNHCR would contribute 27% and the sponsoring relatives in New Zealand would contribute the remaining 27%. Only 173 Khmer refugees were able to come by the end of 1988.⁷
There was no assistance given to selected refugees in terms of formal preparation while they were waiting for their journey to New Zealand ( except for the period 85-88 when there was an English teacher, funded by the Volunteer Services Abroad ( VSA ), who taught English and orientation in Phanatnikum, Thailand, to prepare Khmer refugees to come to New Zealand ).
In June 1989 in an International Conference on Indochinese Refugees hosted by the UNHCR in Geneva, New Zealand agreed under the Comprehensive Plan of Action ( CPA ) that resettlement countries should make a commitment to take the backlog of people who had arrived in camps before 14 March 1989. This included long stayers, medically handicapped and other groups at risk. In response, it was announced at the conference, that New Zealand would take 1000 refugees over a period of three years subject to sponsorship being available. Six hundred of these places would be allocated to Vietnamese refugees. This commitment was not over and above the 800 places offered each year under the refugee programme. The first group to come under this commitment was planned for 1 April 1990 and the intention was to complete the commitment by mid 1993.⁸
New Zealand had endorsed the repatriation of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees who failed to meet the international definition of a refugee. After the UNHCR repatriation programme for refugees to return to their countries of origin, no more Khmer and Lao refugees came to New Zealand. The mass influx of refugees from Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam came to an end.

Refugee mix
Over the 16 year period to 1992, New Zealand has resettled 9925 refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam with a yearly average of 0.28 refugees per hundred New Zealand population. The following are the numbers of Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese refugees who arrived under the quota programme during the period May 1979 to June 1993 ( Table. 1 ). These refugees were selected by officials from the Immigration Division of the Department of Labour.

( Table. 1 )
Khmer, Lao, Vietnamese Refugees Resettled in New Zealand, 1976-1992
( Source: Department of Labour, Mangere, 1993 )

IV. Mangere Refugee Reception Centre and preparation for resettlement

The Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees were selected by the Immigration Officers who travelled to the camps in Southeast Asia. Groups were then transported by plane to New Zealand and their arrival was scheduled over a period of time to ensure that each group had access to the full range of medical and orientation facilities and social services. Khmer , Lao and Vietnamese refugees were granted permanent residence at the point of entry to New Zealand. On their arrival, refugees were taken to Mangere Refugee Reception Centre run by the Department of Labour. They had to stay at the reception centre for four to six weeks before they moved into the community. Translation services were available to them. The centre provided health care, accommodation and food, education, recreation, documentation, and links to resettlement. These services were provided by various departments who met their own costs.

Individual records by Refugee Section, Department of Labour
The Department of Labour ran the Refugee Reception Centre and the hostel. The department organised flight lists and individual files. Refugees outlined their life histories and relatives for the department records. The department had bilingual staff to assist with communication.
Also the department organised weekly payment of $21 to adult refugees and $5 to children under 16 years of age. Toward the end of the programme, the department arranged individual records for all and travel for refugees who went to places other than Auckland.

The hostel, a better camp
The hostel itself was an American military base camp during the Second World War. Refugees had to share a twin room, but they had their own beds. It was the first time, after a long journey against all odds, that refugees from Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam had had a proper room with a soft bed to rest upon and clean water and electricity at their fingertips. This was also the first time that refugees were exposed to the unfamiliar Western life style. A young Cambodian woman wrote I had a room to myself, opposite my parents, and I went there and sat down on the bed. That was how I spent most of my time at Mangere, staying in my room by myself. I didn't go out very much; I didn't talk to other people much. I didn't really want to meet anyone. I felt very mixed about being there - half happy and half depressed.⁹ A Cambodian refugee in his own words explained We are glad to be in New Zealand, but we have to endure first three weeks confinement in the hostel before we are really free to go out.

A taste of food at Mangere
During the early 1980s, Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees first words about food were Baked beans for breakfast!. Food was provided by a contractor who had no experience of catering in Asian foods. Borany Kanal who came through Mangere in 1980 wrote almost all the food at Mangere was European food - Lamb, chop, potatoes. All the people there with us were Cambodian, and some of the others found it hard to eat the food, but I like it. At least I like it for a start, but then I begin to think, Are we going to have to eat this food every day? Once in a while we had rice, but it wasn't cooked the way we used to.¹⁰
In 1981, The Auckland Technical Institute ( ATI ) head teacher in his end-of-course report, commented on the steady stream of complaints which had been made for more than two years on the quality of, and inappropriateness of the hostel food ( Table. 2 )which was provided at a cost of $1.28 per meal for the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese new settlers. The poor food quality led to a roaring trade in instant noodles in the Mangere canteen.¹¹

Although later on there were Asian menus for Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees, it was only good on paper.

The Minister of Immigration was not impressed about the Chop Suey. A note to the Secretary of Labour read: In fact, I doubt whether Chop Suey even counts as a meal - it is Chinese for boiled up left overs ... I regard it as important that an effort is made to provide ethnic food acceptable to the refugees.¹³

Through these years, refugees often complained about the quality of the food ( Table. 3 ). In a 1990 survey of 44 Khmer students who lived in the Auckland area, refugees expressed their bad feeling about food catering while they were living in the reception centre after their arrival in 1989.

77% of the interviewees complained that the food was of poor quality.¹⁴It would be interesting if a research across ethnic sectors is conducted on the services provided to them in general.

The officials countered food complaints by pointing out that refugees seemed to put on more weight at Mangere after their arrival. In fact, refugees were fed on the food brought in by their relatives, friends or refugee communities. Refugees cooked their noodles or food on a stove installed in a common washing room. Once they experienced the hostel food, refugees wrote asking their friends and relatives to bring in rice cookers or electric kettles for their use. On the subject of food, Khmer , Lao and Vietnamese refugees did not want to lodge a complaint or make any trouble because they feared retribution from the officials when they applied to sponsor their relatives in the future. The fear of officialdom was still with them; it would not be over until they left the hostel and reached their new homes.

Helping hands from the Inter-Church Commission on Immigration ( ICCI )
In responding to the earlier refugee intakes a coordinator of ICCI in Auckland explained We didn't have any resources at all, my office was a - you know - a box, to carry around with me ... using the telephone in the hallway at Marcellin, that was the office desk ... any writing that had to be done, letters sent off, that was all done at home.¹⁵
On their arrival Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees received individual bags provided by the ICCI and the Red Cross. Each bag contained a plastic cup, a cake of soap, a tooth brush, a tube of tooth paste, two singlets and two pairs of underpants. The ICCI provided initial supplies of warm clothes and found sponsors to support refugee resettlement. The ICCI was well understaffed. Its office at Mangere had only one coordinator and a woman bilingual field worker.
Until 1990 when the ICCI renamed itself Refugee and Migrant Services ( RMS ), the organisation had employed more part time staff to cope with the demands made on interpreters and social workers by refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. On site, the RMS arranged sponsorship, provided an on call translator and counselling.

Health check at Mangere
The health clinic was run by a part time doctor and a full time nurse. Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees had to stay in quarantine for three weeks and undergo the medical check-up organised by the South Auckland area health board. Refugees went through a series of tests, X-rays, immunisations, dental, vision and hearing checks.
Little can be reported on the state of their health on arrival since it is confidential, but it had been observed that in 1984 out of 650 refugees who passed through Mangere centre, 28 adults and three children were admitted to hospital for treatment.¹⁶ In 1992, out of 264 Cambodian and Vietnamese refugees, 37 adults had been admitted to the hospital. Adults and children who had lived in the refugee camps for too long, such as the Khmer group from Khao I Dang camp and Site Two camp, were often suffering from malnutrition and iron deficiency.
When there were language problems, bilingual staff from the Immigration Department, the RMS or the School of Refugee Education ( AIT ) were called to assist. Even now, the health clinic does not employ its own interpreters.

On the mental health aspect, there was no provision of such services or screening for refugees who had experienced torture or trauma. Up until 1987, there was a general tendency by officials to ignore the mental health issues of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees. Refugee advocates were often regarded as troublemakers when they tried to raise this issue. In an attempt to understand the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugee mental health status the author conducted a survey during the period 1988 to 1991. A sample of 149 adult Khmer and Lao refugees had verbally consented to be involved in this survey. Refugees, from intake to intake, were asked to fill in a bilingual questionnaire, the Hopskin Checklist 25 designed by the Indochinese Psychiatry Clinic in Boston. Refugees expressed the degree of their feelings. They described their feelings as worrying too much about things, feelings of worthlessness, feeling lonely, feeling low energy, feeling fearful, feeling restless, feeling hopeless about the future. There were no counselling services available to deal with the refugees psychological needs. Other than ex-refugee bilingual tutors, there was no-one with whom they could share their concerns. Sometimes the feelings were fuelled by the fact that food in the reception centre was not palatable. In one instance, a Cambodian student in 1991 angrily said How can I have peace of mind if I have an empty stomach! I cant concentrate.
It was found that of 149 adult refugees, 58 had suffered from anxiety and 44 had experienced depression. These numbers were significant and indicated the critical state of refugees mental health while they were in the camp as well as during their resettlement. The existing level of depression and anxiety would be increased when they encountered further resettlement problems.¹⁷

Refugees were not sure about their next move from the Mangere Reception Centre. One student stated, What I can do best is planting rice. I don't know what I can do in this country. I cant even write my sons name in English although I'm his father.¹⁸ Another said I'm very nervous to go out to live in a new place that I have no clue at all. I'm not sure what is going to happened¹⁹
 

Language and bilingual orientation from the Refugee Education Programme
During the early 1980s the ATI provided English teaching services in the morning to newly arrived Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees. Selected speakers gave information about government departments during the afternoon. The New Zealand Government decision to adopt a permanent policy on yearly refugee quotas in March 1987 led to the beginning of the Refugee Education Programme which provided on-arrival education services to refugees. Refugees attended English classes in the morning and an ethnic language orientation session was taught by bilingual lecturers during the afternoon. A survey on An Evaluation of the On-arrival Refugee Education Programme from a Cambodian Perspective conducted by McDermott & Liev in 1990 found that using English in real situations was acknowledged as worthwhile by 64% of the Khmer respondents. The Refugee Education programme also endeavoured to identify and correct erroneous information that had been given to refugees by their relatives or friends prior to their arrival and during the period of their stay in Mangere. There were many instances when friends or relatives persuaded them not to learn. They were told they could do manual work which did not need English, and that relevant information on resettlement was not necessary. Newly arrived refugees tended to believe their friends. It took some refugees months or even years to realise that information and education offered at Mangere was indeed useful to them. They wished they could come back again; but it was too late. The use of bilingual classes for on-arrival orientation was welcomed by the refugees. Students clearly feel the use of the Khmer language is the most significant aspect of the tutors role. It is abundantly clear that sharing a first language would facilitate the imparting of information and the tutors pastoral role. This tutor was seen to have qualities of friendliness and concern for student wellbeing and future in New Zealand, as well as being effective in his role.²⁰
Refugees learnt English and practical social skills for coping with their resettlement.

YMCA, Recreation services
After classes and during the weekend, refugees were able to enjoy the recreation services provided by the YMCA. They could read, draw, play sports, learn sewing, watch television or sometimes go for outings. The YMCA services ceased in 1992 when the Department of Labour funding was withdrawn.

On arrival at Mangere refugees were happy and grateful for being accepted for resettlement in New Zealand; New Zealand provided them with new hope. At Mangere they had to prepare themselves in a very short time ( Six weeks ) to sink or swim in their final journey toward a normal life. They realised they were facing a new world, that from then on they had to live on their own - at large in a non-controlled New Zealand society. They had a second chance to rebuild their life and to become a normal citizen. Once the refugees left Mangere, they were under the care of the volunteer sponsors.
It is worth noting that about 1000 Cambodians and Vietnamese who came to New Zealand under the Orderly Departure Programme ( ODP ) went straight to sponsors. This group had no access to the six week On-arrival Orientation Programme and no health checks. No research has been done which would allow of a comparison of difficulties faced by this group and those who stayed at Mangere.
 
 

V. Resettlement: Distribution, Housing, Employment and Education

Once refugees left the Refugee Reception Centre at Mangere, they had to face reality. They began to experience a new and unfamiliar environment and did their best to cope with their new life in New Zealand. The degree of successful resettlement was dependent upon support from sponsors, the local social services, and national policies on refugees.

Refugee distribution
The population of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees living in New Zealand was 8459 in 1992 ( Table. 4 ). This number did not include people from Song Be camp in Vietnam and those who came to New Zealand under the Orderly Departure Programme.

With a population of 3435000 ( 1991 census ) there is a refugee population of approximately 2.45 per 1000 - 1.2 Khmer, 0.34 Lao and 0.8 Vietnamese.
Population changes due to birth, death, or migration of refugees ( Table. 5 ) after resettlement in 1992.

The change in refugee population is mainly due to emigration of Khmer and Vietnamese refugees to Australia.

Geographic Distribution
The distribution of refugees ( Table. 6 ) is typified by concentrations of the communities in the main centres. There has been a significant second migrations of refugees coming back to the main centres a few months or years after arrival. This has been due to employment and isolation from their family or ethnic community. In 1991 the proportions of Khmer and Vietnamese were, respectively, 97% and 95% in the urban areas.

( Table. 6 )
Geographical Distribution of Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese Refugees
( Source Department of Internal Affairs 1993 )

Age and Gender
Children under fifteen ( Table. 7 ) represent approximately one third of the Khmer and Vietnamese population.

Employment
Refugee employment ( Table. 8 ) is influenced by a number of factors, such as appropriate occupational background, education level, English language proficiency and age. Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees found employment with the help of their sponsors, relatives and friends or through word of mouth. During the early stage of the refugee influx to New Zealand, refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam had little difficulty finding manual or processing work. Refugees were prepared to accept any job available to them, from cleaning to working on the shop floor. Refugees who had wet rice farming experience found themselves unable to use their skills in processing work. Those who came from a professional background had difficulties in getting their qualification recognised and met difficulty in finding appropriate jobs. They were caught in a job seeking limbo because their qualifications were not wanted in New Zealand. Kim Hoang Macann wrote My former qualifications and experiences, if recognised at all do not provide me a job in my field of expertise.²¹They forced themselves to do manual work if it was available. Very few refugees with a professional background have reached their previous status.

Khmer , Lao and Vietnamese refugees worked long hours with lower pay ( Table. 9 ). As time has passed very few refugees working for a corporation have reached supervisory or middle management level.
Refugees who have a Chinese ethnic background tend to be self-employed in fruit shops, take-away shops or family bakery shops. Eighteen percent of the Vietnamese women run their own businesses.

The occupational distribution of male and female working refugees is not well spread ( Table. 10 ). The percentage of machine operators , process workers and general labourers is far greater than the New Zealand average. Forty six percent of the Khmer women are involved in machine operation.
In general, refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have a reputation for being good employees; they work hard. This hard-working attitude was not welcomed by their kiwi peers who often told refugees not to work hard or fast - take it easy man, take your time or you will not have overtime in the weekend. Kiwi peers tend to lack cultural awareness. From time to time they gave new names such as John, Steve or Mike to their refugee peers. Ethnic food was sometimes a problem in the work place. In the mid 1980s, a Cambodian labourer was asked by Kiwi peers to eat somewhere else because of the smell of his food. Apart from such examples of insensitivity, Kiwi peers are regarded as helpful and friendly.

Housing
Because of their cultural values and the nature of their extended families, a refugee household may include parents, grandparents, married children and children. Number of occupants in private dwellings showed that the refugee household size is greater than the New Zealand national average ( Table. 11 ). About half of refugee households had more than five occupants.

Refugees began their resettlement with a rented house or flat. Some of them were fortunate enough to have a state house or a church house rented to them. The majority of them rented private houses or flats, some of which were substandard. Refugees sometimes met covert rejection or open refusal of rental property. When first moving to Hamilton in 1982, after living for two years at Reporoa, the author had to compromise verbally on his tenancy agreement with his landlady - he was not to cook Asian food in his rented flat at Knighton Road.

Refugees worked hard to make savings to buy their own house. Usually the adult members of the family chipped in with their savings towards a deposit to buy a house ( Table. 12 ). They shared the house and the mortgage repayments.

Refugees, particularly those from rural districts, used to live in open areas. On first arriving, they had to familiarise themselves with unaccustomed appliances. In one instance, a refugee from Hamilton believed that electricity in New Zealand was safe and no one could be electrocuted because the plug had three pins. Since refugees were used to the open environment, they found it hard to live in a house with closed doors and windows. It was often observed that on the one hand refugees sat with their heaters switched on, while on the other hand, they left the windows and doors open to let the air through.

Education as an ad-hoc provision
The first wave of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees were mostly educated. The refugees who came after 1982 were mainly farmers who had very limited education and practically no relevant skills. No matter what their background, Education is usually seen by refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam as one of the key factors in resettlement. But the educational response to immigrants and refugees has been one of ad-hoc provision with no long term planning²²The need for language planning on a national scale in New Zealand and on-going concerns regarding the lack of information on provision for immigrant groups have been expressed by many researchers over the years. A 1982 Department of Education report on Southeast Asian refugees in New Zealand recognised that there was frustration at all levels with learning English...partly due to the time factor in learning a new language, but mostly due to the lack of opportunity available for learning appropriate English skills in New Zealand.²³
After 1990, a newly arrived refugee family received special resettlement grants from the Social Welfare. A portion of this is to be used for their English language courses; this is not really practical since individual school fees per term are higher than the money granted.
It is also noteworthy that ex-refugees have problems with access to English classes because of high fees and transport.

Those who had no schooling and had little English had to struggle hard
Generally speaking, the academic achievement of refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam is mixed. The success of refugee students is clearly related to their formal schooling in their home country or the extent to which their family have had formal schooling in their home country. Those who had no schooling, had little English and were from a family which had no experience in schooling, tended to struggle hard to keep up with schooling. All refugees encountered school dislocation while they were in the refugee camps. The majority of the Khmer students had less exposure to school life because of the disruption of schooling during the Khmer Rouge regime. Parents expectations and hopes are high; they would like to see their children achieve academic success but few parents know how to assist their children with their schooling.
The majority of refugee students in New Zealand share some common problems such as lack of resources, education gaps, no learning skills, limited English or no English, no support, lack of guidance, and they don't know that they don't know. New students some times suffer from inappropriate placement based on ages rather than ability to cope with school work and experience discrimination from their kiwi peers.
A crowded home environment is also one of the factors that lead to poor school performance. Cambodian school students in South Auckland had no appropriate place in which to do their home work. It is a common practice for school work to be done in the living room where the rest of the family are watching television. Cambodian parents trust the school system to help their children since the teachers, the parents believe, are the ones who know how to help students to learn.

In a comparative study conducted in three Auckland schools, Cambodian students, peers and teachers, expressed their views on adjustment problems faced by Cambodian students ( Table. 13 ). This study revealed their language, cultural, academic, and home problems as follows.²⁴

A study of Vietnamese students, conducted by Manh Bui Van found that more than 58 percent of those students who have had over five years of schooling in Vietnam scored a B grade for their school work.²⁶
The success of refugees at school is dependent on the time spent in New Zealand and more than 90 percent of those students who had over five years of English in New Zealand got a B for their school work.²⁷
Students seem to perform well in Maths ( 60% ) and technical drawing ( 16% ). Manh Bui Van wrote that Those who had no schooling in Vietnam and had little English had to struggle hard to keep up with the school work. These are the students who need help. Also needing help also are those who are new to the country. These students need a home tutor to fill in the huge gap between themselves and the new classroom, the new culture...²⁸
 

VI. Adaptation and wellbeing of the refugees

After leaving Mangere, refugees have to rebuild their life and at the same time adapt to the New Zealand environment. Support from their sponsors and friends assists in their resettlement, but all too often the nature of this support is short-term, minimal or irregular. The level of adaptation depends on the individual refugees potential to adapt, the host community pressure, availability of supporting services, and ethnic community support. In the early stage of resettlement, refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam encountered great diversity of needs ( Table. 14 ) which are by no means linear: they are multidimensional.

( Table. 14 )
Refugee journey and their set of needs

When the honeymoon is over
You might think that on the departure of a refugee family there might be an end to their fight over terror²⁹
This was true but for a very short time only. Once Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees arrived in New Zealand, they encountered new situations. They experienced a great difference in environment, society, language and culture. Refugees brought with them their life experiences, their habits, their culture,their arts, their religion and beliefs. They left behind their family. They had lost all their belongings and wealth through wars and flight.
Although Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugee adaptation shares some patterns similar to those of general refugee resettlement in New Zealand, there are unique concerns and problems.

Embarrassed at being a refugee
The stigma attached to being a refugee was often felt strongly. Some refugees denied their nationality when people asked their origins. A Khmer refugee woman from Hamilton, told her neighbours that she was from India because she felt embarrassed about being a refugee. She hardly associated with her people from Cambodia.
Borany Kanal who came to New Zealand as a teenage girl wrote I was embarrassed about being a refugee. Even when people didn't pay any attention to me I still felt embarrassed. Its hard to explain, but I think its to do with being different.³⁰
This embarrassment could lead to isolation and loneliness.

Loneliness and isolation
The size of a refugee community is very significant to refugee wellbeing during the early stage of resettlement. With language problems, resettlement of refugees in areas isolated from their own people leads to loneliness and home sickness. Homesickness and loneliness were one of the main complaints during resettlement of the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees. The late Mrs Minh Nguyet explained homesickness is natural and it is human for all of us to be homesick...However it might be tragic if you have no home, no chance to go back to your homeland or if you are old, things are not going right for you, if you are lonely, or if you have no family with you in a foreign country³¹ A study conducted by Farmer found that more than half (52.9%) of the refugees reported loneliness as a cause of distress. This was a particularly serious problem among the elderly refugees and among those who had been settled in small towns³²This problem ( Table. 15 ) was more significant when refugees were not mobile and were not able to communicate with their neighbours . Kim Hoang Macann wrote " My elderly relatives feel they are being held under house arrest. They only go out and see other fellow country people if I can take them".³³Chinaboth Lach, a Khmer man, described an old refugee life as during the Pol Pot regime, "we lived in a prison without a wall; but we was not able to go anywhere. Now here we are in a free country, he found himself almost of the time confining to a house although he has the keys. He can see outside world through his 21 inches TV screen that he is not able to understand".

Limited access to information
About two weeks after their arrival refugees began to realise that their resettlement required them to cope with new situations. They tried to check and query the truth and implications of the information that they received. Since they mostly had problems with language, they were unable to gain access to correct information from the mainstream media such as newspapers or television. Most refugees had to rely on word of mouth which was often distorted.
The afternoon orientation session on life in New Zealand, provided by the Refugee Education programme at Mangere, provided a means of gaining information. These sessions, conducted in their own ethnic languages, provided pertinent information on resettlement needs. Once they left Mangere they were on their own again and found it hard to gain access to appropriate information. Refugee communities have made great efforts to produce ethnic language newsletters or bulletins to fulfil the information needs but their publications are irregular.

Unfamiliar socioeconomic environment
Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees were not familiar with the New Zealand way of life - from the pattern of weather to social behaviour. Sok Lim Kim, a young Khmer student who came to New Zealand in 1988 explained that We found it very difficult living in New Zealand. Everything is so different - the system of life, the cold weather, the food, and especially the language.³⁴ Coping with language inevitably brought mistakes and embarrassment. Bring a plate led some refugees to bring an empty plate to a party.
Customs and practices were other areas in which refugees found problems. A refugee mistakenly used a tea cozy as her winter hat. A young refugee man sent a sympathy card to thank his manager. A refugee got upset with his sponsor for supplying him with brown rice which only prisoners ate in Cambodia. The lid of a pressure cooker was blown through a kitchen ceiling. A Khmer man bought a pair of jandals and since they were too big, he trimmed them to fit his feet. A man thought he would save money by buying live chickens and killing them himself...he had no idea that what he was doing was wrong and did not seem to understand why an SPCA inspector had to take the chickens away.³⁵

Lack of resources
Since refugees have very limited financial resources to acquire goods and services at their will, they tend to have greater resettling difficulties than migrants have. Refugees have to rely on the generosity of their sponsor groups and the non-governmental organisation ( NGO ) social services for basic necessities such as beds, table and chairs, clothing. During the 1980s, refugees received no special assistance from the government with the exception of the six week education programme during their stay at Mangere.The introduction of the Department of Social Welfare Resettlement Grants in 1991, modified in 1992 ( $1200 per family of four ) had to a certain extent lubricated their initial resettlement. They could now purchase necessity goods such as second hand beds, tables, fridges. Newly arrived refugees made an effort to cope financially by buying low priced meat and foods. It was observed that refugees had made good efforts to supply produce from their own gardens. However, the lack of financial resources led to resettlement problems and stress. A new pattern emerged. To keep up with the Jones, refugees began to acquire cars, televisions, and other appliances as soon as they could make a deposit. This patterns led on the one hand, to disappointed sponsors, and on the other hand, to constraints on their own finances. Furthermore, refugees had to send money to their friends or relatives who lived in the limbo of refugees camps in Southeast Asia.

Fragile health
The majority of Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees who came through under the government quota had spent a period of time ranging from less than one year and up to twelve years, in various refugee camps before they came to New Zealand. They suffered from malnutrition. A study was conducted in 1990, by Nigel Dickson and Ian Morrison in Dunedin to find the level of iron deficiency in 18 infants of Cambodian refugees. The study, on infants aged from three to 19 months, found that forty seven percent of the infants tested were anaemic with a haemoglobin of less than 110g/l. Sixty five percent of them had serum ferritin of less than 10µg/l, which is considered evidence of low iron store at this age. Thirty seven percent were both anaemic and had a low serum ferritin and were thus likely to have an iron deficiency anaemia. All mothers who had been in this country for less than three years had children with a serum ferritin below the normal range.³⁶
 

Mental health
Refugees from Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam had been through traumatic experience. A study conducted in Palmerston North by Regina Pernice found that one in three ( 33% ) of them has suffered from the post traumatic stress disorder ( PTSD ) and evidence of high level of anxiety and depression.³⁷ There was few suicide attempts by refugees during these years. People who have worked with cases involving refugee's mental health problems found the quality of assistance has varied greatly and this issue also has not yet been adequately addressed.³⁸
Beside their treatments at a mental clinic, refugees tend to approach their monks in case of mental health problems. Their problems then can be translated into various symptoms such as a possession by a spirit, an anger from ancestors, a violation of a social code, and a violation of a promise. Once the symptom is defined, a monk or a healer will perform the healing ritual to free that person from anger of the spirit or the ancestor. The social structure of refugees from Cambodia and Laos ( Table. 15 ) is very important to their wellbeing. Without a temple, a monk, and a traditional healer, the refugee community is incomplete.
 
 

( Table. 15 )
A mental health model of Khmer and Lao refugees

A refugee with PTSD
|
On arrival: No screening ----------- |
| | Personal problems
Resettlement & problems: Stress -----------------| Family problems
| | Resettlement | problems
___________________|_________________
| |
Mental Health OK
Problem |
_________|_________ |
| | |
Hospital Temple Support from Family & Friends
Assessment Ritual Group counselling
Counselling Chanting Talk, TV, Video, Music & song
Prescription Community support
Social support
|____________________|__________________________|

|
|
Result: A mentally stable person
 

Violence and Women refugees
In general, the people from Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam will warn their children or partners who misconduct themselves or make mistakes. Violence is rare with the first mistake. When the mistakes are repeated, violence is used as a last resort. Physical punishment was traditionally a common way to discipline children - using a cane stick to whip the hand or back side of a child. Parents or siblings helped to ease the pain by using the oil balm on the painful areas. In New Zealand this practice is rare since it is not acceptable and teachers often play a significant role in childrens welfare. But home violence still occurs, especially within marital relationships. In one instance a woman hit her husband at a gambling ring because the husband neglected his family, but in most cases, it is the husband who beats his wife. The reasons are usually related to financial pressure and the loss of status during social adjustment. Traditionally, when violence occurred in their own countries, the elders and relatives intervened. In New Zealand the situation is different since most of the families are isolated or have no elder relatives living with them. In most situations children or relatives have intervened with the emergency phone call to the police: in a case in Hamilton a son saved his mother from her husbands battering by using the emergency number (111). It has been observed that although this approach degraded the husband and lowered his status, the practising of home violence seems to have diminished.

Gambling
Gambling is not legal in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam. It is not a national practice. Gamblers, if caught, will be sent to jail for a period of time. The refugee communities from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam do not endorse the practice in New Zealand. In an effort to curb gambling, the Refugee Education Programme of the Auckland Institute of Technology, the police, and the three communities, staged an evening discussion on gambling and New Zealand law. But still a small group of individual refugees covertly play cards or dice with small or large amounts of money involved. Gambling is a game of chance in which the players end up, most of the time, with a loss of money and property. This leads to financial problems for the family to endure and family violence can arise.

Divorce
Divorce is a new phenomenon with refugees; it is often due to unhappy resettlement experiences. In most instances people involved in divorce are couples who were forced to marry during the Khmer Rouge regime or couples who married in refugee camps for security reason. Divorce is common in these groups.
The majority of divorces are genuine; but some are not. It is worth noting the so called play-divorce, a practice whereby a couple go through the court system to obtain their divorce; the wife receives her domestic purposes benefit and the husband moves away from home, can keep his income intact - but still visits his wife. Through this practice the combined family income is more attractive than their income before the divorce.

Community workers
Refugees who came to New Zealand had little education and had limited English. The majority of government departments and public services do not have official translators. When language problems arose, members of the family or a friend from the same community was called upon to interpret. Language problems are significant in the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities. Although professional training is available, most of the refugees do not have either enough ethnic language skills or English language to pass the exam. Those who pass work for translation services or do voluntary work for their community. The majority of them are not trained to deal with the wide spectrum of situations where an interpreter is needed, and if hired are paid badly. They work on call and work on compassion. Bilingual community workers are ethnic people who are known in the community and act as interpreters, cultural brokers, community workers. Unfortunately they are some times regarded by the officials as trouble makers. They work hard, experience burn-out and have practically no help. Their position is some times dangerous and lonely because the nature of their job requires neutrality; their own people can become upset and angry. They find it difficult to accept that their interpreter is required to be neutral and impartial whether interpreting during a driving test or court case.
In the short term, translation services are beneficial but in long terms, because of the nature of the services, refugees tend to depend on interpreters and do not make any serious effort to acquire English.
 

( Table. 16 )
Common problems within the Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese community

Individual:
Loss of status Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
Uncertainty of new environment Lack of social contact and support
Lack of English Lack of knowledge on local system
Limited access to information Lack of relevant skills
Lack of knowledge about how to learn Lack of role model

Family:
Change of role Generation gap
Lack of native language maintenance Family friction
Incomplete family Family disintegration, divorce
Lack of direction and guidance
Lack of knowledge how to create environment conducive to learning

Group:
Lack of familiar environment and religious practice
Lack of cultural maintenance
Individual become selfish ( as a result of lack of resources )

Refugee organisation:
Lack of trust Lack of unity, factionalisation
Lack of resources Lack of skill people
Lack of leadership Lack of self support services

Bilingual social workers
Burnt out Loner
Underpay Not well trained
No help for the helpers

V. Cultural Maintenance and Bilingualism

Pressure to assimilate
During the early 1980s, New Zealand policy on refugees was assimilation. A. G. Malcolm stated that The whole concept that we put together was one that said when these people come to New Zealand they must quickly become New Zealanders and assimilate within the New Zealand society.³⁹ As a result, the policy of pepper potting sent refugees to be resettled in provincial areas. Refugees felt culturally and linguistically isolated. you are welcome here as long as you fit in, don't criticise, are grateful, undemanding, and become like us as soon as possible; if you cant become like us, then keep to yourselves or go elsewhere.⁴⁰Because of isolation, second migrations occurred; when refugees moved North or to Australia where they could be closer to friends or their ethnic groups.
On assimilation, Houmpheng Rattanong wrote: Our people have been Buddhist for thousands of years. It is difficult to change it. We have lost everything. Buddhism is the only thing we can bring with us; the only thing that can support us is on the inside... The family may attend the church only to keep their sponsors happy... I have one friend in Auckland who goes to church on Sunday. He then returns home and prays to Buddha for forgiveness for sinning by going to church.⁴¹
The pressure to assimilate refugees had failed, but through the years, refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam have adopted a certain amount of the New Zealand way of life.

Acculturation
Assimilation sometimes had been pursued spontaneously by refugees because they felt that they needed to belong to the mainstream to be successful. This group saw Westernisation as the way to success. They regarded their own practices and culture as inferior to that of their hosts. While attempting to copy their host neighbours they neglected their own ethnic culture and practices. Very few of them have savoured success. After a few years of assimilation, their children are undoubtedly Kiwis. They speak only English, listen to pop music and socialise with their Kiwi friends. Some cultural mores have been broken; children choose their boyfriends and girlfriends; they neglect their family; they do not care about their ethnic origins. This group of young refugees have not performed well at school. The majority have failed to attain School Certificate; they have dropped out. They have fallen in between both cultures are unable to mix well with their own ethnic group or the mainstream. They have became marginalised. When problems with their families arise, outsiders are unable to help and sponsors do not understand their problems. Parents of this group regret their initial enthusiasm for assimilation and the effect that this has had upon themselves and their family.
The forced assimilation to the host culture at the individual, familial, group and community level had encountered resistance, rejection and friction; sometimes this input led to cultural gaps between individuals or between generations. Elderly people for instance lived in separation and distanced themselves from the host community because of their language and cultural limitations. They tend to have a poorer sense of social adjustment. Peter Cheungs study, conducted on 223 Cambodians, found that most of the subjects still held Khmer traditional beliefs and practices in New Zealand. Most would like to retain aspects of their Khmer culture but would also like to acquire aspects of host culture, suggesting that most preferred to have an integrative mode of acculturation.⁴²Acculturation is dependent on the intention to be acculturated, opportunities of being exposed to the host community and time of exposure. Since most refugees from Cambodia, Lao, and Vietnam have limited English language, they tend to socialise with people from their own country. The degree of acculturation of the first generation Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese refugees seemed to cluster mainly within the spectrum of Separation - Ethnic bias - Quasi integration - Ethnic integration. ( Table. 15 ). Very few of them have achieved host integration or full integration. Peter Cheung also found subjects who were older, less educated, had lower socioeconomic status, or shorter duration of stay in New Zealand, were less acculturated.⁴³

Cultural maintenance and awareness of cultural erosion
The concept of assimilation during the early 1980s had been rejected by the refugees and their communities. During the mid 1980s, refugees who lived in scattered areas moved to join their relatives and friends in clusters. Refugee cultural movements which began during the mid 1980s provided hope for the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese to preserve their identities and to serve their ethnic needs in resettlement. Ethnic associations, refugee ethnic language classes, and Buddhist temples had sprung up and assisted in the refugee resettlement process. Refugees who were exposed to the host community culture took in appropriate host culture and blended it with their own ethnic flavour.

Causes of cultural erosion
Cultural erosion in the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities is influenced partly by the refugees and partly by the nature of resettlement. The policy of pepper potting led to isolation of refugees from their ethnic groups and to life in a dominant New Zealand culture. Refugees received pressure from peers, colleagues or sponsors to trade off with the host culture to be successful. The host culture presented itself as universal and attractive. Further more the ethnic culture and practices were not relevant at work and at school. The cultural erosion is also enforced by long exposure to host culture and refugees distance themselves from, or neglect their culture. This is due to the attitude of ethnic refugees who are inclined to give up their ethnic ritual and habit and the feeling that their ethnic culture is inferior. Because of the nature of resettlement, refugees have less time in sharing ethnic culture within the family and their ethnic community.

Effects of cultural erosion
Refugees from Cambodia, Lao and Vietnam now realise the extent to which cultural erosion has taken place. Their children appear to be strangers who have lost their ethnic cultural values and identity. They speak mainly English at home with their siblings and they reject their ethnic arts and songs. They have created a gap between themselves and their parents or grand parents because of the loss of their mother tongue. They can not communicate well with the older members of the family and the ethnic community, and because of this they do not know their own culture and folk tales.

Cultural maintenance
In this situation, cultural erosion is not beneficial to individual refugees or their community. It is necessary to preserve or maintain ethnic culture and identity. In reality, during resettlement, refugees tend to cope with the host culture by adopting the essential while still keeping relevant practices and culture. The variation in degree of cultural maintenance has been observed from individual to individual, from family to family, and from community to community.
Cultural maintenance leaves no choice; do it yourself. No one is going to maintain a culture for someone else; further more it is costly. The Khmer Buddhist temple in Wellington for instance cost about $350 000 and took more than three years to complete. It takes a lot of effort to build up or reconstruct ethnic identity and community and sometimes it fails as in the case of the Khmer Buddhist group in Auckland during the mid 1980s. The work on cultural maintenance faced objection, rejection, discrimination and social prejudice from the host community. A Vietnamese monk resident in Otahuhu was prohibited from conducting their ritual because their neighbours complaints. Cultural maintenance is a lonely road in resettlement. Sometimes their own people or children abandon them on the grounds of inflexibility. It is time consuming as it demands trying to do two things at the same time.

Although it is costly to maintain a culture, refugees from Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam seem to carry on with their tradition at a certain level. They are proud to retain their ethnic identity. They have the opportunity to share their values, beliefs and enjoyment with their people. They can maintain their culture and enjoy their ethnic life here in New Zealand. They belong to their community. They have the knowledge of their culture. They have the opportunity to help their own people through social work. They have maintained the links with their homeland.They are bicultural and bilingual. They can communicate with their families and their friends. After all, they have the opportunity of sharing with the host community their own unique culture.

Cultural maintenance is necessary for keeping individual and community identity. It takes time to integrate in a new community and to live harmoniously together within the family as well as within the whole community. Refugees seek help to maintain their culture; people can help to some extent. Only the ethnic refugees themselves who can maintain their culture by practising it and handing it on to the next generation. And to do this refugees have to start from home and their ethnic associations.. Neglecting this, individuals as well as the refugee ethnic communities will lose their cultural identities.

Ethnic associations
The first Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese associations were introduced by the people who came under the Colombo plan. These associations or societies aimed to provide supports to smooth the resettlement process of people from their country. They were involved in giving advice to various NGOs and the government. They participated in ethnic community works such as interpretation, translation, cultural resources. In the early 1980s, for example, The Cambodian Society Inc, based in Wellington, produced it Khmer newsletters for the Cambodians in New Zealand. They formed a cultural dance group and lobbied for better refugee resettlement. Community work is demanding and needs great care. The association is the one to be blamed if things do not go well. Complaints often heard from the ethnic leaders are that There are too many bad mouths to put you down but very few supporting hands to help you up. Factionalisation is one of the common features of the refugee ethnic communities. Because of the factionalisation and the lack of resources - human and financial- ethnic associations function like a yo-yo. The leaders seem to lose track or to become politically biased and let the association to be inactive or be wound up.
During the mid 1980s new generation leadership sprang up in main resettlement cities. They formed new societies and associations which have more relevancy to the needs of the refugees in their areas: The Cambodian Buddhist trust in Wellington, The Cambodian Society Inc, in Auckland, Youth Khmer Buddhist Association in Wellington, Waikato Khmer Association, Manawatu Khmer association, Christchurch Cambodian Association, Cambodian Association in Dunedin, Auckland Khmer Buddhist Association, Chinese Kung Luck Association, Xao Lao Association in Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland, Wat Lao in Auckland, Vietnamese Association in Wellington and Auckland, Vietnamese Buddhist Association, Vietnamese Buddhist temple, and Vietnamese Community Centre in Otahuhu. These societies or associations are partly contributed to by their members and partly supported by community services from the Department of Social Welfare or the ASB Charitable Trust.
Refugee communities have done their best to help their people toward a smooth resettlement although they themselves may be floundering from crisis to crisis due to lack of strong leadership, lack of long term vision and lack of sound management. Although the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities are still fragile and not yet self sufficient, they deserve credit for their do-it-yourself approach to cultural maintenance.

Ethnic language classes
The mid 1980s was the period in which refugee communities began to be aware of the erosion of their ethnic languages and cultures. The Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities went public to seek support for their community classes. The National Coordinator Southeast Asian Migrant Education, Mr Hawley, made great efforts to distribute ethnic language materials for the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities. The ethnic language classes began with great success and enthusiasm. Over a period of a few months or years childrens attendance rate dropped and the majority of these ethnic language classes ceased to operate. A Khmer language programme run in Auckland which began with about 200 pupils in 1990, now has about forty students attending Sunday classes. This is because methods of teaching are out of date, untrained bilingual teachers are used, no appropriate bilingual materials are available, funding is almost non-existent; and volunteer teachers suffer from burn-out.

Bilingualism begins at home
Bilingualism is one of the hot topics within the refugee ethnic communities. Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese parents often complain about the loss of their ethnic languages. They desire them to be maintained by successive generations. The children regard English as more practical and relevant and tend to drop their ethnic languages. Children often supply the following arguments: We are now Kiwi., Why should we waste our time learning mother tongue?, Its boring. In general, Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese children have suffered from subtractive bilingualism. The language erosion is partly due to lack of time spent in speaking the ethnic language at home, the use of English for survival, and the lack of Khmer, Lao, and Vietnamese bilingual and bicultural programmes in New Zealand schools. English for survival has often meant that children are used as interpreters for their parents. This reinforces negative own-language attitudes in children. Parents need strategies that will encourage richer and widely ranging own language . Communication between parent/child child/relatives, needs strengthening as does child participation in family discussions, on a wide range of topics that involve the immediate and extended family.

Cultural groups
Cultural groups are one of the main components of the Khmer, Lao and Vietnamese communities. Refugees are proud to perform their cultural items especially during ethnic New Year or on public occasions. The communities have used their cultural performances to support National events such the Commonwealth Games, Telethon, and school fund raising. Children, with the consent of parents, have been i